Thyroid abnormality may lead to diabetes during pregnancy
Thyroid dysfunction during early to mid-pregnancy is associated with increased risk of gestational diabetes during pregnancy
Women with thyroid abnormality in the first half of pregnancy face an elevated risk for gestational diabetes, a form of diabetes that is typically diagnosed during the second trimester. A new study revealing this link has been published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Thyroid dysfunction is common among pregnant women and has been linked to miscarriages, premature birth and other health issues in children. Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that develops during pregnancy. Children born to mothers with gestational diabetes may develop hypoglycemia or low blood sugar, which can be very dangerous if not treated correctly.
India has the highest number of diabetics in the world but there are very few studies which looked at the burden of gestational diabetes (GDM) in India.
According to a published systematic review and meta-analysis, GDM prevalence in India ranged from as low as 0.6% to as high as 27.3% in 2016. The pooled estimate of the GDM prevalence among Indian women was 9.3%.
“These findings support the benefits of thyroid screening among pregnant women in early to mid-pregnancy”
“Screening for thyroid dysfunction during pregnancy is still controversial, even though, among non-pregnant individuals, it can lead to earlier detection and treatment of metabolic diseases,” said the senior author of the study, Cuilin Zhang M.D., Ph.D., of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in Rockville, Md.
“Our study found that women with thyroid abnormalities in the first half of pregnancy are at an increased risk for gestational diabetes, a common pregnancy complication that can cause short and long-term health problems for women and their children,” he added.
Researchers from the NICHD assessed the medical records of 107 women with gestational diabetes and 214 other pregnant women from the Fetal Growth Studies-Singleton Cohort, a multiracial pregnancy cohort of 2,802 women. The study found higher thyroid hormone levels were an indicator of gestational diabetes risk starting early in pregnancy.
“These findings, in combination with previous evidence of thyroid-related adverse pregnancy outcomes, support the benefits of thyroid screening among pregnant women in early to mid-pregnancy,” Zhang said.